Heart's Desire 2
by Lioness Alanna of Trebond
Summary: Get ready to join Kelsie as she and Matthew join together to try and stop a serial killer in the midst of their own little problems. Could there be trouble in paradise?
1. One More Down

Heart's Desire 2  
Prologue-One More Down  
  
Author's Note-   
I'm back, and so is Kelsie. Get ready to join Kelsie as she and Matthew join together to try and stop a serial killer in the midst of their own little problems. Could there be trouble in paradise? We'll see.................  
  
Disclaimer-  
You can tell who I own and who I don't, but let's just make sure. I own Kelsie or Tirregan and Matthew of Golden Lake, and Daniel of Dunlath, and that's about it, really.  
  
  
  
The letters were always the highlight of both Lord and Lady Tirragen's day. Ever since Kelsie had left for the convent almost eight years ago, the manor had been very quiet, as boththe Lord and Lady of Tirragen grew older and had much less to look forward to, much less to live for. Their lives had fallen into dullness, and both were bored with things. Lately they had been searching for a way for them to live with some sort of adventure, and both had a feeling that their boredom was near an end.   
  
The most recent letter was vague. Kelsie had stopped detailing life in the palace quite as closely, but it still interested her parents. The seventeen year old girl loved her parents very much, and she knew that she was the light of both of their lives. Neither one of them had any other children, at least, not any more. The Lord of Tirragen thought of his son with his first wife often, and it still stung that Alex had turned bad. He continued to push those thoughts out of his mind as he neared old age, and instead chose to dwell on all the wonderful accomplishments of Kelsie.   
  
Of course, Kelsie was an unusual girl. When she had gone to the convent, her first friend that she had made there had not been one of the other ladies, but instead a thief that she had met outside the convent walls. Her thief friend had told her about life in Corus, and about Alanna of Trebond and her friends. These people had interested his daughter, and her motivation for wanting to go to the capitol was not to try and find a good husband, but instead to meet these people and hopefully reunite the king and the Lioness. The Lord of Tirragen had laughed at his daughters caper, and he was among one of the people who had been greatly suprised when not only had his daughter succeeded, but she had also helped uncover a plot against the King's life. To top it all off, Kelsie had been the spy who had helped to save Jonathan's life. One would have thought that after all of this adventure in just her first three months at the palace, Kelsie's life would have slowed down some over the past year, but instead it had just continued to pass her by at a rapid rate. As the Lord and Lady of Tirragen read the most recent letter from their pretty young daughter, they couldn't help but laugh. Kelsie's letter told her parents all about how Queen Alanna, along with some help from her friend Thayet, had come up with the idea to start a group called the Queen's Riders. This was to be a group of both men and women who would fight alongside the Knight's of the realm. Not only was their daughter fascinated by the idea, but she wanted to join the group.  
  
"She's so full of life. This seems so much like something she would want to do," the lady said. Her husband nodded.  
  
"She very much admires the Lioness. So did Alex, in his own way. They're so much alike. If he hadn't- If he hadn't turned out for the worst, I think he would be a lot like her," he said.  
  
"He was a very talented man. She's a very talented girl. They're both a lot like their father."  
  
"You flatter me," he said.  
  
"Since when have I been one to flatter anyone?" the lady asked. He laughed, and smiled at his wife. He loved her very much, even if she couldn't replace his first wife. There was a silence betwee the couple, and both looked at each other expectantly. Neither really had anything to say.  
  
"It's late," the man said finally.  
  
"Yes, it is. I suppose we had better get to rest- I was thinking we could start towards Corus tomorrow, maybe suprise Kelsie?" she suggested.   
  
"I like that idea. It's been too long since we've seen our daughter," he said. Both climbed up from their chairs and headed towards their bedroom.  
  
'It'll be longer than they thing,' someone thought to themself in the shadows. There they sat, waiting for the lord and lady to fall asleep, and then......... Then it would be time. They had waited a long time for this, and now was the night. 


	2. Bad News and Bad Clues

Heart's Desire 2  
Chapter 1- Bad News and Bad Clues  
  
Author's Note-   
Like I said last time, could there be trouble in paradise? In this chapter, you get introduced to the source of some later trouble between Kelsie and Matthew, and you also get to see Kelsie's reaction to some not so happy stuff. Enjoy.  
  
Disclaimer-  
You can tell who I own and who I don't, but let's just make sure. I own Kelsie or Tirregan and Matthew of Golden Lake, and Daniel of Dunlath, and that's about it, really.  
  
  
  
"When does the last knight group get back?" Kelsie of Tirragen asked her companion. It was a hot July day in Corus, and the two seventeen year olds were lying in the grass as the sun was beginning to set.  
  
"Today, tomorrow, next week, whenever they feel like it. Why does it matter, anyways, Kels?" Daniel of Dunlath asked. Kelsie gave him her famous glare, and he withdrew his question. The knight group had been gone for two weeks, and Daniel knew better than anyone else Kelsie missed her best friend (and boyfriend) Matthew of Golden Lake.  
  
"Just forget I asked, Kelsie. Sit back down and don't worry anout it. Matthew will be back before you know it," he assured her. Kelsie laid back down in the grass, and Daniel inched closer to her. Then Kelsie sat upright again.  
  
"What if they hurt him? What if he's dying or something?" Kelsie asked Daniel. Daniel shook his head.  
  
"Matt's definitely a lucky guy," Daniel said, and looked at Kelsie. Kelsie glared at him out of the corner of her eye.  
  
"And what exactly is that supposed to mean, Dan?" Kelsie asked, and gave him her most innocent look. Kelsie hated it when people didn't tell her exactly what she wanted to know.  
  
"Nothing," he said quickly. Kelsie gave him her glare again.  
  
"You know what it means, Kelsie. Every guy in the castle between the ages of fourteen and twenty-two has their eye on you. There's not a guy here that doesn't think that you're the most beautiful girl that they've ever seen, and everyone wishes that they were in Matthew's place. I'm not an exception, either," Daniel said.  
  
"You're crazy! Besides, what is that supposed to mean, you're no exception?" Kelsie asked him.  
  
"This," Daniel said, and leaned in to kiss her. Their lips met, and then Kelsie pulled away.  
  
'Damn,' she cursed silently to herself, 'This is no good. I can't have a friend who tries to kiss me every time I turn around. He just practically confessed that he's in love with me- now what am I supposed to do? This is a major problem, because I definitely just felt something. I'm not sure if it was a good thing, and I guess I can't ever find out without being disloyal to Matthew, but there was definitely something. I'd be lying if I said that I wasn't physically attracted to Danny, and I do enjoy his company. But Matthew is so sweet, and funny, and.............. He's gone all the time! None of this would have happened if he were still around, but when he's off on his knight's adventures, I have no one else to really spend time with. Jon and Raoul and Alanna and Gary are all great, but there's no one else my age, no one else that really understands me. The other girls from the convent are no good, they're all snobby and no fun. So while Matt's gone, that leaves me with Danny. This is not good, this is definitely not good............ I just wish Matt would get back soon!' Kelsie's thoughts trailed off.  
  
"Kels?" Daniel asked cautiously. Kelsie looked at him, not sure whether to explode at the fact that he had violated her relationship with Matthew or to melt into Daniel's arms. She chose to explode, not wanting to risk the great relationship that she had with Matthew.  
  
"How dare you? You know how important Matthew is to me, you know how much I care about him, and you chose to violate all of that? Where do you get off, getting me to trust you and then moving in for the kill? Damn it, Daniel, you have no right to do that! I told you that I only wanted to be your friend before, and you had to go and pull something like this!" Kelsie was fuming.  
  
"Woah, settle down, Kelsie! I'm not trying to get in between you and Matt, I just want you to remember how I feel about you. Besides, how much can you care about Matt if you turned him down when he asked you to marry him?"  
  
"You asshole. That has nothing to do with you, and it's none of your business. You have no right to drag that into this. You shouldn't talk about things that you don't understand, and you definitely don't understand that, so you should just shut up before you really say something to make me mad," Kelsie said.  
  
"You look mad to me already," Daniel pointed out.  
  
"Ugh," Kelsie said, "You are so infuriating. Just- do me a favor and leave me alone, okay?"  
  
"Look, Kels, I didn't mean to upset you. I was out of line with all that, but I don't want that to mean that we can't be friends. We can still be friends, right?" Daniel asked.  
  
"Just don't do anything like that again! I love Matthew, and I don't want anything in my relationship with him to change, okay? You're a great friend, but Matthew is.................... Matthew!" Kelsie shrieked, and leaped up off of the ground.  
  
"What the?" Daniel began, and Kelsie began to run down the hill. Daniel groaned. At the bottom of the hill was Matthew of Golden Lake in all his glory. Danny got up, and walked in the other direction.  
  
Kelsie ran until she reached Matthew, and then she flung her arms around him and leaped into the air.  
  
"Kelsie!" he cried, wrapping his arms around her and hugging her tightly.  
  
"I missed you so much," Kelsie whispered into his ear.  
  
"I missed you, too," Matthew whispered back.  
  
"When did you get home?" Kelsie asked.  
  
"About an hour ago. I was with Jon- I think he wants to see you about something," Matthew said.  
  
"Oh- okay. Any idea why?" she asked.  
  
"Not sure. He said it was important, though," he told her.  
  
"Okay, well, I'll talk to you later, 'kay, Matt?"  
  
"Sure thing, babe. I'll walk with you up to Jon's study, alright?" Matthew asked. The two walked in silence up to the castle, Kelsie lost in thought. Why had Kelsie said no to Matthew when he had proposed to her less than a year ago? Kelsie herself still wasn't sure. All she knew was that she regretted her decision. She had felt like she was too young and not ready at the time. Now she wished she had said yes.  
  
The two reached Jon's office, and Matthew gave her a quick hug before heading towards his room.  
  
Kelsie gave a small knock on Jon's door, wondering what the king could possibly have to say to her.  
  
"Come in, Kelsie," Jon said. Kelsie opened the door.  
  
"How did you know it was me?" Kelsie asked him.  
  
"The Gift. Sit down, Kelsie, I have something very important to talk to you about," he said.  
  
"All right," Kelsie said, sitting. She was nervous now; what if what Jon had to tell her was bad?  
  
"Have you heard about the recent murders that have been occuring in Tortall?" the King asked, his face very serious.  
  
"Actually, I have. All I know is that there's a pattern, and the murders are sort of gruesome. What does that have to do with me?" Kelsie asked.  
  
"Well, the murderer has been traveling from fief to fief, and his most recent spot was Tirragen," Jonathan said quietly.  
  
"But what would he want in Tirragen? Who would he want to kill in Tirragen?" Kelsie asked, then a horrible thought struck her.  
  
"Well........" The look on Jon's face was one of total pity.  
  
"Not my parents?" Kelsie asked.  
  
"I'm....... I'm afraid so, Kelsie," the king said. Kelsie just looked at him in horror.  
  
"No- no, it can't be. It's not possible. Tell me it's not true," she said.  
  
"I'm so, so sorry, Kels."  
  
  
A/N-  
Well, well, well. Poor little Kelsie. Trouble in paradise, trouble at home, when does the trouble stop? We'll see. Plus, how many of ya'll would have guessed that Kelsie's answer to Matt's proposal was........ NO? More soon, I promise. 


End file.
